


A Study in Tea

by Laily



Series: The IronStrangeFrost Compendium [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, Idiots in Love, IronStrangeFrost, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29213613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laily/pseuds/Laily
Summary: Stephen is beginning to doubt his place in the three-way relationship. Tony tries to help. But first, he needs a drink.
Relationships: Loki/Stephen Strange, Loki/Tony Stark, Loki/Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: The IronStrangeFrost Compendium [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2135610
Comments: 11
Kudos: 109





	A Study in Tea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RenlysRoses404](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenlysRoses404/gifts).



“It’s my turn to sleep in the middle,” Tony mumbled through a mouthful of electric toothbrush and toothpaste. 

Annoyed, Loki poked him in the side, and handed him a washcloth. 

“Sorry, sorry - ” Tony scrubbed the mirror clean of spittle and toothpaste spatter. But it got dirty again a split-second later when he caught sight of Stephen’s reflection diving for the middle of the bed. “Hey!” 

“You slept in the middle yesterday, and the night before, so it’s my turn. Obviously.”

“I’m the smallest, doesn’t the smallest get to sleep in the middle all the time?” Tony argued.

Stephen relaxed against the bedhead, admiring the view of Tony and Loki’s fine behinds from his throne of pillows. “If that’s the case, why don’t you ever want to sit in the middle seat everytime we fly economy? If you want to know what it feels like living like a commoner, live it all the way!”

Tony put his hands on his hips indignantly. “I had the bed custom-made to fit all three of us, what’s the problem?”

Stephen shot up to a sitting position and crossed his forearms on his knees.

“It’s not the size, it’s the psychological implication behind it. As demonstrated by our forefathers throughout human history, the one sleeping on the outside is the first line of defense in the event of an attack. In other words, they die first."

Loki turned around very slowly. “How nice. I did not realise that.”

A very long, very awkward moment of silence ensued.

Tony, in damage control mode, wrapped his arms around Loki’s waist tentatively. “You can have the spot, Bambi.”

Stephen slowly scooted over to the very edge of the bed. “For as long as you want, Baby.”

The frosty silence continued deep into the night, and not even their routine of Round Robin kisses and cuddles could break it. 

But weariness took over, and one by one, they drifted off to sleep. 

They must have not been asleep for very long when Loki suddenly sat upright with a great big gasp in the middle of the night, causing quite the commotion.

“What’s the matter? Did you have a nightmare? A headache? Tummyache?” Tony asked frantically. 

Stephen, no less anxious, waved the lights on with magic and leaped out of bed. “Did your wards go off? You sensing something? Is it that goat demon again?”

Tony rubbed circles on Loki’s back. “You hungry? Thirsty?”

Stephen sat back on the mattress. “Did you forget something on the stove? In the laundry?”

Tony added hopefully, “…Horny?”

Stephen did one better for he was a man of priorities. “A knife left in somebody?”

Loki just gave them a _look_ , gave his pillow the most violent puffing, and went right back to sleep.

Tony and Stephen exchanged glances of panic. _What the hell are we supposed to do now?_

_A few days later_

“That's the third time this week, Stephen,” Tony said over coffee the next morning.

He thought it best not to wake Loki, who must be exhausted from all the sudden awakenings he had been doing. “I think it has something to do with what you said the other night.”

“What did I say?” Stephen asked dubiously as he stirred his tea. “I say a lot of important things.”

“That thing about how cave people used to make their weakest member sleep at the mouth of the cave so they would get eaten first!”

Stephen’s mouth fell open. “How is that your takeaway from what I said?” 

“Well I’m better at Lokispeak than you, and I’m telling you, that’s what his reaction told me.” Tony watched his husband. Unable to contain his curiosity for a minute longer, “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” Stephen asked.

“Stir your tea like that.”

“I...don’t like what the leaves are telling me,” Stephen mumbled. “They’ve been giving me the same reading three times over.”

“Uh-uh.” Tony deadpanned. “Just out of curiosity, what are they saying?”

Stephen scooted closer to show his husband his teacup. “See that clump next to the handle? What does that look like to you?”

“Seriously?” Tony squinted. “Looks like a peni - ” At Stephen’s scathing glare, “Uhm, p-peony! It looks like a peony. Uh, no?”

“No! That’s a knife! And what the hell is a peony anyway?”

“Huh? Oh my gosh, you’re right!” Tony feigned awe. It looked nothing like a knife but who was he to argue with the Sorcerer Supreme, the number-one self-acclaimed expert in tasseography? “What does it mean?”

“Anything near the handle represents current issues, current feelings.” Stephen looked deeply troubled. “A knife means disagreements.” 

“Okay.” Tony nodded. “Disagreements, got it. That’s marginally better than someone stabbing you, right? Like, physically?”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Marginally.”

“What else do you see?” Tony asked further, because disagreements would not make Stephen look this upset. They disagreed all the time, with each other, with other people, sometimes with people from other planets and dimensions too. 

“See that near the rim? The one farthest from the handle? What does that look like to you?”

This time, the image could not be any clearer. “Scissors.”

Stephen nodded unhappily. “Anytime you’re seeing scissors, it alludes to some sort of separation, or break-up.”

“Stephen, no!” Tony gasped. “You can’t! My lawyer’s gonna kill me if I change my will again!”

“This is serious, Tony.” Stephen went from upset to near tears in an instant. “Whatever this is, it’s going to happen soon.”

“How soon?”

“Very soon.”

“What are you guys talking about?” A new voice spoke from the door.

“Loki!”

“Bambi! You’re up!” Tony jumped off his bar stool. “How are you feeling? Would you like some breakfast?”

Loki’s suspicious gaze vacillated between his husbands. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Stephen said quickly, banishing the teacup into the ether with a wave of his hand. “Just, random stuff.”

“Right.” Loki glanced out the corner of his eye at Tony who was being extra-obsequious this morning, almost flustered as he took out Loki’s favourite mug from the overhead cabinet. “Doesn’t look like nothing to me.”

“Nothing that concerns you.”

Taking a page out of Tony’s book, Stephen reached across the dining table for Loki’s hand, but before he could pull his husband to the table, Loki yanked his wrist away. 

Without another word, the God of Mischief turned around and stalked out of the kitchen like he could not get out of there fast enough.

Tony bared his teeth. “What the fuck, Stephen?”

“What did I do now?” Stephen almost wailed. 

“ ‘Nothing that concerns you?’ ” Tony threw the tea towel on the counter to give chase, but not before he levelled his husband with the dirtiest look. “Honestly, Strange.”

Stephen buried his face in his hands and moaned. 

Miraculously, Tony managed to calm Loki down somewhat and talk him into an impromptu morning walk through the park. 

Loki glanced around warily. “Why do people keep looking at me?”

Stephen scanned the area, magic at the ready but saw nothing but harmless New Yorkers ambling about. “Who?”

“Everyone around us. The shop people. The bicycle people. The promenade people,” Loki complained, sounding more annoyed than afraid. 

Tony smiled brightly. “That’s because they rarely ever see such a beautiful person like yourself in real life! Beauty such as yours belongs in a harem, a secret garden -

Stephen quipped, “A museum - ”

Loki froze. “Museum?”

Stephen rambled on in his desperate attempt to get back in Loki’s good graces. “With a self-detonating mechanism in place, so in the unlikely event should Tony and I fall in the course of protecting you…”

Loki stared. “Then I’ll simply return to Thor. He’s been begging me to come live with him for a while.”

With that, Loki only looked at Stephen askance and walked away.

Tony sighed. “You thought you were being romantic, didn’t you?

Stephen sighed. “I need some work on that, don’t I.”

_Later that night…_

“Hey, Gandalf.” Tony bumped Stephen’s shoulder hard, jostling him out of his reverie. “Whatcha doing out here all by your lonesome?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“What do you mean? You’re doing nothing wrong.” Tony popped open a can of beer. “Want one?”

Stephen shook his head. The city lights looked beautiful from up here on the roof, but his heart was heavier than stone. 

“Loki hates me."

"That's a load of bull and you know it."

"I don't know what I should do," Stephen said glumly. 

"You can teach me how to read tea leaves," Tony suggested. 

"What's the point? It's only going to give the same reading as mine."

"I know for a fact that it's not," Tony said firmly. "Coz we love each other and that's what I'm going to see." 

"That's pareidolia." Stephen sniffed. "Seeing faces in clouds."

"You always have a fancy name for everything, don't you?" Tony teased. "Oh well. Loki's given me a reading anyway."

Stephen's head shot up. "He what?" 

"Yep. Had me drink some weird-tasting tea." Tony made a face. "Funny but he does it quite differently."

"How so?"

"After you drink the tea, you put a saucer over it and you ask your question right?"

"Whatever you want to ask the universe, yeah."

"Then you turn the teacup clockwise three times."

"No, it's counter-clockwise."

"See that's where you're wrong. Loki does it clockwise."

Stephen stared. "No."

A pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind and a familiar head of curls nuzzled his shoulder. Long legs straddled his hips and bare feet colder than ice rubbed against his ankles.

"You've been doing it wrong, silly," Loki chastised him huskily. 

He began nibbling on Stephen's earlobe. "Wanna know what was in my little teacup?"

Stephen shivered as Loki's warm breath bristled the hair on his neck. "What?" He whispered urgently. 

But it was Tony who answered, "Swans."

Stephen's heart lifted. "Happy love life?"

"Happy love life." Tony clambered over him, straddling him from the front. "Hey, look! You get to be in the middle after all! Isn't that exciting?"

And never had a midnight ~~romp~~ tea for three on top of a building been more exciting indeed.


End file.
